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Dania Ramírez Speaks on Heroes Role

We've already heard from one new member of the Heroes cast today, David Anders.

Now, here are a few snippets of an interview Dania Ramirez conducted recently with IGN TV:

IGN TV: You've had a busy year, so I'm curious if you even had a chance to see Heroes last season before you went in for the part.Dania Ramirez: Well, actually I saw it all before I started working on the season. I hadn't seen it all when prior to starting the second season. I knew about the show, of course. I think there's about nine people in the world that have never heard of the show.

So I'd heard of it, but I'd never watched it prior to them wanting to test me, partially because I was in New York for a long period of time filming the last season of Sopranos and then I was doing a film, so I was just busy, so I hadn't really caught up in watching the show.

But right before I tested, one of my really good friends, who's such a huge fan, when I told her, she was like "Oh my god! You're crazy, you have to be on this show!" And she came over to my house and she had all the episodes from iTunes, and we just sat down and watched. And by episode eight, I just couldn't stop watching! I was obsessed!

IGN TV: So how excited were you when you actually got the role?Ramirez: Oh my god, honestly, I'm blessed. The producers and I think some of the writers had seen my work on Sopranos, and so they wanted me to come in for anything at one point. Then eventually [Heroes executive producer] Tim Kring said he was creating a Latin character and they were like "Oh, let's look at this girl." So when they called me, and had me test, they never opened the audition to anybody else. They wanted me to be good and nail it and all I had to do was not mess it up. No pressure! [Laughs]

IGN TV: Given how secretive the show is, how much detail were you given when you came in to test for it?Ramirez: Nothing. I mean I was given little hints. I knew that I was going to have some kind of ability that wasn't very positive. I knew that I was going to be dealing with more of the darker side of having an ability. I wasn't told what that was going to be. At the time, they were still decided where I was going to be from.

They knew that they wanted me to be Latin and they knew where the first episode was going to be filmed, but they didn't know if that's where I was going to be from or not. And I just found out like two weeks ago that they made my character Dominican. So now my character's from the Dominican Republic and it's really exciting, because you know, we don't really get a lot of play in my country! I'm from the Dominican Republic, so it's kind of cool to be able to play a role and speak my native language and play someone from my country.

IGN TV: Have you been able to work with any of the other cast members yet?
Ramirez: I'll give you a hint. I have been able to work with a very dark character from season one.